There were a few hearts in mouths for the Panthers.

A deep bomb from Reece Walsh bounces, and then bounces off the crossbar and towards the Brisbane chasers.

Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards gets the footy in the nick of time, because Ezra Mam was charging to that ball and would have scored if he got it.

That was clinical from the Panthers.

They shift to the right, from the centre of the field.

Nathan Cleary passes out the back to Dylan Edwards, and then Edwards produces a perfect draw-and-pass to put Brian To'o in the corner.

This comes off the back of a great challenge from Nathan Cleary.

Cleary nails the conversion from the right touchline.

Panthers 6

Broncos 4

Brendan Piakura is off for a HIA.

He was laid out on the ground after coming off second best in a tackle.

Penrith's Nathan Cleary puts in a grubber kick to the corner, and it goes out into touch.

But Cleary challenges correctly. The ball was played at by Adam Reynolds, came off his boot, and went into touch.

The Panthers are on the attack.

Very nice from the Brisbane Broncos.

With a full set at the Penrith goal-line, they have scored the first try of the night.

On the final play of the set, Reece Walsh put in a perfectly weighted grubber to the in-goal, and Jordan Riki won the race and grounded the ball.

Adam Reynolds missed the conversion attempt.

Panthers 0

Broncos 4

The Brisbane Broncos will have the first big chance of the night.

Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards did well to catch a bomb in poor conditions, but then dropped the footy while being tackled.

Referee Todd Smith blows his whistle, and round 20 of the NRL begins.

The Broncos kick off, and the Panthers will have the first use of the footy.

Lindsay Smith takes the first run of the night, and the Broncos welcome him in a three-player tackle.

The Panthers have an incident-free set, and Nathan Cleary kicks clear.

There is plenty of rain around Western Sydney Stadium tonight.

Expect a slippery affair.

It was a big start to the week in rugby league, with Jarome Luai signing a one-year deal to play with Parramatta next season.

Meanwhile, his current coach, Benji Marshall, refuted suggestions he and Luai had a relationship breakdown.

Catch up with the full story by tapping the link below.

(NRL)

Panthers

Penrith welcome back State of Origin trio Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo.

The Panthers also welcome back centre Casey McLean and backrower Isaiah Papali'i from injury.

Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos have been plagued with injury in 2026.

Needing a win tonight, they get a stack of players back.

Reece Walsh, Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan return from Origin duty.

Adam Reynolds, Ezra Mam and Brendan Piakura are also returning for the reigning premiers.

Realistically, the Brisbane Broncos need to win all eight remaining matches to have a chance of playing finals this season.

Since the Dolphins joined in 2023 to make the NRL a 17-team competition, over 27 rounds, these are the teams that finished eighth on the ladder:

• 2025: Roosters — 32 points (13 wins), +132 differential
• 2024: Knights — 30 points (12 wins), -40 differential
• 2023: Raiders — 32 points (13 wins), -137 differential

Two of the three seasons have required 13 wins to make the finals.

The Broncos have five wins, with eight matches remaining.

That means they would need to win all eight matches to reach the points tally which was good enough for eighth place in the previous two years.

It means tonight really is must win match for the reigning premiers, who have lost their past eight games in the NRL.

Here is when kick-off in the clash between the Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos is in your state or territory:

• 7:50pm AEST: NSW, Queensland, ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, PNG
• 7:20pm ACST: South Australia, Northern Territory
• 5:50pm AWST: Western Australia
• 9:50pm NZST: New Zealand, Fiji
• 10:50pm: Tonga, Samoa

Good evening, Australia.

Welcome back to ABC Sport's live digital coverage of the 2026 NRL premiership season.

Tonight, round 20 of the premiership begins with one match:

• Penrith Panthers vs Brisbane Broncos

Be part of the conversation and join the blog throughout the evening by letting us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Let's go.